At 7am EST, @Nobelprize_org alerted Twitter to the Swedish Academy’s choice this year for literature laureate: 82-year-old Canadian author Alice Munro, beloved for her quiet but beautifully affecting short stories.
Canadian Alice Munro, 82 yrs old, is awarded the 2013 #NobelPrize in #Literature “master of the contemporary story”. pic.twitter.com/TaohlgOQLt
— Nobelprize_org (@Nobelprize_org) October 10, 2013
But while the Internet had been duly informed of this decision, Munro herself remained apparently unaware of the honor. The Academy noted that there is a short lead time between the winner being called and the official announcement:
The Swedish Academy tries to contact the person who will receive the 2013 #NobelPrize in #Literature 30 mins before the announcement.
— Nobelprize_org (@Nobelprize_org) October 10, 2013
Munro didn’t answer that call—understandable, considering it likely came a bit before dawn.
The Swedish Academy has not been able to get a hold of Alice Munro, left a phone message. #NobelPrize #Literature
— Nobelprize_org (@Nobelprize_org) October 10, 2013
We can only imagine how casual a message that was—“Hi Alice, nothing major, just give us here in Stockholm a ring when you can. Toodles!” The Nobel folk then released their news to the world but continued to try to reach Munro, sounding more and more like a jealous boyfriend.
@Nobelprize.org is trying to reach #AliceMunro for our traditional phone interview, still voice mail… #NobelPrize https://t.co/Yjg6kYsxIr
— Nobelprize_org (@Nobelprize_org) October 10, 2013
But never fear, there’s a happy ending here. At noon EST, @Nobelprize_org revealed that they had finally gotten in contact with the celebrated fictionist, probably because by that point some neighbor was banging on her door and telling her to answer the stupid phone already.
We reached #AliceMunro, phone interview soon to follow! #NobelPrize in #Literature
— Nobelprize_org (@Nobelprize_org) October 10, 2013
Let that be a lesson, Alice: You can write, but you can’t hide.
Photo by PandoreBoite/Flickr